It is common farming practice to turn windrows of cut vegetation in order to allow the vegetation to properly dry and to prevent mildew. Windrow turning is almost a required procedure when cut and windrowed alfalfa, for example, is dampened by rain. It is desirable to have a relative homogenous moisture content in the windrow for proper and effective baling procedures. A wet bale can cause serious damage by spontaneous combustion, or by decomposing spreading decomposition to adjacent bales. On the other hand, a cut windrowed crop will retain more valuable nutrients as feed if it is cured properly in the windrows prior to baling. In the distant past, windrows were turned either by hay rakes or by hand. Either procedure was time consuming and not always effective.
Several use-specific apparatus have been developed for turning windrows, aside from the typical hay rakes (which will not operate efficiently in many situations). Such apparatus generally are towed behind a tractor and turn the windrows as the tractor moves forwardly. However many prior apparatus also guide the windrow through a tortuous path to accomplish the inversion process. A heavy cutting or dense windrow will often plug in the windrow turning apparatus, or the apparatus must be moved so slowly as to be impractical.
An improvement in windrow turning apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,868 to Gerbrandt. This device includes a shaped moldboard mounted behind a reel pick-up. The moldboard is curved to receive and invert the windrow material as it is received from the pick-up reel. While this apparatus will likely work well at low speeds and with relatively dry, loose materials, on flat ground or while moving uphill, it appears possible that wet dense material could bind along the moldboard and plug the machine or cause clumps of material to develop. It also appears possible that the sliding motion of the windrow along the moldboard would be hampered by gravity when the unit is moving downhill or on a side hill where the material will naturally tend to slide away from the moldboard.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a windrow turner that will function at relatively high speeds to turn windrows of material reliably and evenly.
It is another objective of the windrow turner to place the windrow on dry ground adjacent to the original windrow location.
It is a further object to provide such a windrow turner that will function well on uneven terrain.
It is a still further object to provide such a windrow turner that will fluff the material of a windrow as it is being inverted.
A yet further object is to provide such a windrow turner that will function well to handle wet, dense materials.
Another object is to provide such a windrow turner that is relatively simple in construction and easy to operate.
The above and still further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description which, taken with the accompanying drawings describe a preferred mode for putting the invention into effect.